The Crenshaw County Chamber of Commerce is introducing a new idea to help promote businesses throughout the county, starting with one of the oldest in Luverne. 

“We were roundtable-ing it at one point and we came up with the business spotlight idea,” said Kathy Smyth, the president of the Crenshaw County Chamber of Commerce. “We started seeing that done in other areas, and it seems to go pretty well.” 

For the first business spotlight, the chamber board selected Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company in Luverne and on June 19, the group joined Pepsi employees and executives and community members to celebrate the business and discuss the chamber’s reasoning behind the nomination. 

“We just wanted to be able to promote and just shine that spotlight on [the business] and tell [them] how much that [they’re] appreciated in our community, not just for [their] tasty beverages, but for the food giveaway program and other community aspects that [they’re] always involved in,” Smyth said.  “We wanted to say thank you. We’re grateful for [their] impact into our community.” 

Established in 1915, the Pepsi has been family-owned and operated out of Luverne for generations. Now, the soda bottling company employs Luverne citizens while keeping to their local roots. 

Additionally, the business has different programs to help provide for the community, like a mobile food pantry. 

“It’s a great honor for [the chamber] to come in and highlight our business. We greatly appreciate everybody’s support,” said Andrew Smith, the chief financial officer (CFO) for Pepsi. “We wouldn’t be here without our local community and our local customers, so it’s an honor for them to come in and support us for the first highlighted business for the chamber.”

In the next few months, the Chamber will continue to highlight local businesses of Crenshaw County, and Smyth said the organization’s board hopes to shine a light on other businesses as they did for Pepsi at the June 19 event.